This Bug Discovery Kit provides an introduction to the wonderful world of insects and other invertebrates. The resources included in the kit may be used for independent learning on the topic of insects and invertebrates, or may also be used before, during, or after a field-trip to the Zoo. This particular section contains activities to do during the field-trip! The activities may also be used to complement the following books on the P1 and P2 STELLAR reading list:

1. P2 book: A Butterfly is Born 2. P2 book: The Underground Dance 3. P2 book: Life in a Shell 4. P2 book: The Grasshopper and the Ant 5. P2 book: Walking through the Jungle

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This entire Bug Discovery kit consists of 3 resource packages, which are divided into:

1. Pre-trip 2. During-trip (you are currently viewing the During-trip package) 3. Post-trip

Within each resource package, you’ll find an introduction with a topic overview, information about the kit, and tips on how to plan your own visit to the Zoo. You’ll also find activity outlines and instructions, followed by a glossary of relevant terms, and all printable resources needed for each specified activity. While some activities are more suited to pre-trip, during trip, or post-trip purposes, feel free to switch their order depending on how you have planned your lesson!

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Morning traffic is always unpredictable, so to make the best of your fieldtrip and arrive as planned, we recommend that you leave school earlier. Check out the location and transportation information page on the zoo website for more details to help you plan your arrival. You can also download a soft copy of the park map for your reference on that page.

Find out more about school rates, ride pricing, and even book your tickets on our website’s school groups portal.

Prepare your students on your chosen topic and what they should look out for at Singapore Zoo. You can let your students know more about proper behaviour at the zoo, such as no teasing or unsupervised feeding of the animals.

If you’re planning to sign your students up for an education programme offered by our Education department, you may get more info about our different offerings here. For Primary school students, we suggest Behind-the-Scenes tours, Guided tours at exhibits, and enrichment programmes.

If you’re planning a self-guided learning journey around the park, it’s best to first familiarize yourself and the rest of the teaching staff with the Zoo! Visit our Education pre-visit page here to download a recce form, or email us directly about a recce at eduadmin.zoo@wrs.com.sg.

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Relevant STELLAR book P2 – The Underground Dance, Walking through the Jungle, A Butterfly is Born

Relevant subject discipline English language, science

Values in action ✓ Integrity, responsibility – being personally responsible in correctly completing a task entrusted to them

✓ Critical and inventive thinking – using deductive skills to learn about the animals and their adaptations from observation

✓ Collaboration and information skills – working together as a team towards a common goal

✓ Self-directed learning – discovering the answers for themselves

Objective To encourage observation and comparison skills, within the topic of invertebrates vs vertebrate, insect vs arachnid

Recommended group size ✓ If another teacher/facilitator is present: Class to be split into 2 groups, with 15 per facilitator

✓ If self-guided: groups of 5 (6 groups in total) ✓ Activity is completed as a class

Materials included • Photo pack (bee, centipede, grasshopper)

• Observation sheet

Additional materials (not included)

Writing materials (per student), watch

• Read P2 STELLAR books, “Walking Through the Jungle”, and/or “The Underground Dance”

• “Walking Through the Jungle” o Ask the students which senses the boy used, and how o Discuss the animals in the book – are these the only animals living in a jungle? o What other animals might there be?

• “The Underground Dance” o What kind of animals were living underground in the book? o Are these animals that you know of? How are they different? o How might living underground be helpful to them?

• Focus on 3 invertebrates to focus on from these books: bee, grasshopper, centipede

• Download and complete the pre-trip activities, Bug Spotter and Invertebrate Dominoes Remarks: You might wish to download post-trip activity “Puzzle Zoom” for the photo ID cards.

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Preparation 1. Locate the “Explore Fragile Forest” printable package (after this instruction sheet) 2. Print 1 photo pack in A4 or A3 size (for yourself) 3. Print 1 observation sheet for each student 4. This activity is divided into 3 mini-activities, to reduce crowding in the exhibit and to encourage

self-guided discovery 5. Brief the groups on how to use the observation sheet – they are to use a section for each

station location, and record their observations with the help of the suggested options 6. The class can be split into 2 groups (15 each), with 1 group working forwards from Discovery

Centre to Discovery Outpost, and another group working backwards in the other direction 7. If self-guided: 1 teacher/facilitator in the Aviary, and 1 at the Discovery Outpost. 6 groups of 5

students each to rotate around the 3 activity stations

Gameplay Fragile Forest Discovery Centre (Before the entrance to Biodome) 1. Animals found here include: katydid, rhino beetle, jungle nymph, toads, frogs 2. Students are to compare all the animals – which are insects and which are not? 3. How did they arrive at these answers? Get them to note down their observations in their sheet

Fragile Forest Biodome (Aviary) 1. Animals found here include: lemur, Malayan flying fox, mousedeer, crowned pigeon, eclectus

parrot, sloth, iguana, whistling duck, saki monkey 2. As the teacher/facilitator, you’ll be in this area 3. Tell the groups that they’re to compare your photos of a bee, centipede, and grasshopper to

all the animals they’ll be seeing in the biodome 4. Which are vertebrates, which are not? How are they different from these 3 animals (in the

photos)? How did they arrive at these answers? 5. Get them to note down their observations in their sheet

Fragile Forest Discovery Outpost (After exit to Biodome) 1. Animals found here include: scorpion, tarantula, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly, cockroach,

frog 2. Students are to compare all the animals – which are insects and which are arachnids? 3. How did they arrive at these answers? Get them to note down their observations in their sheet

Closing activity

• Gather the students after their self-directed exploration of Fragile Forest

• Facilitate the sharing and discussion o Which did they get right? Which did they not get right? o What were the reasons they didn’t get the correct comparisons/answers?

Learn more about insect adaptations

After this exercise in observation and visual comparison, it’s time to delve a little deeper into the

world of insects. To learn more about insects and some of their unique adaptations, you could take

up a programme, Enrichment Class: Bug Discoveries, with our Education Department.

This class includes workshop facilitation and encourages learning through station-based activities.

More information can be found on our website, here.

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Adaptations The process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment

Antenna A pair of long, thin, sensory appendages on the heads of insects, crustaceans, and other arthropods

Arachnid An arthropod animal with 8 legs, of the class Arachnida

Chrysalis Usually refers to the pupa of butterflies

Insect A small arthropod animal with 6 legs, generally 1 or 2 pairs of wings

Invertebrate An animal lacking a vertebral column, or backbone

Larva The active, immature form of an insect. Usually one that differs greatly from the adult and forms the stage between egg and pupa

Life cycle The series of changes in the life of an organism, including reproduction

Metamorphosis In insects or amphibians, the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages

Myriapod An arthropod group with elongated bodies and numerous leg-bearing body segments. Includes centipedes, millipedes, and related animals

Nectar A sugary fluid secreted within flowers to encourage pollination by insects and other animals

Pupa An insect in its inactive immature form, between larva and adult

Vertebrate Animals that have a brain enclosed in a skull, and a segmented spinal column (backbone)

1. Observation sheet Each section will have a segment with pointers on what to look out for, and checkboxes that students may use to record their observations.

2. Photo-pack

Photos of a centipede, grasshopper, and bee. To be used for closer observation and comparison with animals within the Biodome.

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Relevant STELLAR book P2 – Walking through the Jungle

Relevant subject discipline Science

Values in action ✓ Self-directed learning – discovering the answers for themselves ✓ Collaboration and communication skills – working together as a team towards a

common goal ✓ Critical and inventive thinking – using deductive skills to learn about the

animals and their adaptations from observation and questioning

Objective Improve observation skills, and to learn some adaptations and characteristics of the animals found there:

• Forest layers that animals tend to be found in

• Characteristics about colour, body covering

• Short fun facts If given the option, the ID cards may also be used as a standalone for self-directed learning

Recommended group size ✓ Groups of 3 ✓ Debrief conducted as a class

Materials included • Puzzle Zoom Question cards (10 double-sided questions, 2 double-sided cards per sheet of paper)

• Puzzle Zoom Explanation cards (10 double-sided explanations, 2 double-sided cards per sheet of paper)

Additional materials (not included)

Lamination (recommended for outdoor use of cards)

• Read P2 STELLAR book “Walking in the Jungle”

• Ask the students what kinds of animals the main character (the boy) encountered in the jungle

• Get the students to think about how the main character (the boy) discovered all these animals:

o Did he spot all the animals first? o What sounds did the animals make – were they all the same? o Round off this discussion by prompting students to highlight how observant the

boy was and which senses he used o Emphasise that these are skills they’ll be practicing during their fieldtrip

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Preparation 1. Locate the “Puzzle Zoom” printable package 2. Print 5 decks of Puzzle Zoom Question cards (1 deck for every 6 students) 3. Print 1 deck of Puzzle Zoom explanation cards for yourself (and/or other facilitators), to debrief

the class as a whole after the activity

Gameplay 1. Split the class into groups of 6 students 2. Give each group of 6 students 1 deck of Puzzle Zoom cards (10 cards) 3. Divide each group of 6 into 2 groups of 3, and get them to divide the deck into half (each triplet

gets 5 cards) 4. Ensure that each group of 3 doesn’t get repeated cards 5. The cards are zoomed in photographs of animals you might find in Fragile Forest 6. The groups are to explore Fragile Forest on their own and identify which animals the cards are

zoomed in pictures of, and the group to correctly identify all the cards in their deck first wins! 7. Recommended duration (3 students completing 5 cards): 8. Once all the groups have gathered, use the deck of explanation cards to reveal the correct

animals 9. Use the prompting questions to start a class discussion over what some of that animal’s

adaptations or characteristics are Remarks 1. For a self-guided exploration of Fragile Forest, print 1 explanation deck for each student

group, and let them roam freely in the biodome 2. They’ll be able to use the cards to identify and learn more about any animals they spot

Closing • Get the students to share their experiences exploring the Fragile Forest exhibit o Which animal they spotted was their favourite? Why? o What were some sounds they heard? Which animals made those sounds? Were the

sounds different from what they expected? How so?

• Facilitate the sharing and discussion o How did the animals react when they walked past them / approached too closely? o Did all the animals behave the same way in that situation? Why do you think so? o Why do you think all these animals in Fragile Forest can live together – will any of them

eat each other?

• Round off the session by linking the activity to the importance of observation – it’s possible to learn a lot about the animal just by observing it

Enrichment programme during your Zoo visit

After seeing some of the jungle’s smaller critters for themselves, why not learn a little bit

more about insects and what makes them special? As an alternative during-trip activity, you

could take up a programme, Enrichment Class: Bug Discoveries, with our Education

Department!

This class includes workshop facilitation and encourages learning through station-based

activities. More information can be found on our website, here.

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Adaptations The process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment

Antenna A pair of long, thin, sensory appendages on the heads of insects, crustaceans, and other arthropods

Arachnid An arthropod animal with 8 legs, of the class Arachnida

Biodiversity The variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat, a high level of which is usually considered to be important and desirable

Body covering The external, covering of an animal – might be skin, feathers, scales, exoskeleton, or hair

Canines The pointed teeth between incisors and premolars of a mammal, often greatly enlarged in carnivores

Carnivorous An animal that feeds on other animals

Chrysalis Usually refers to the pupa of butterflies

Crest A comb or tuft of feathers on the head of a bird

Exoskeleton An exterior, protective or supportive structure or shell of many invertebrates

Insect A small arthropod animal with 6 legs, generally 1 or 2 pairs of wings

Invertebrate An animal lacking a vertebral column, or backbone

Larva The active, immature form of an insect. Usually one that differs greatly from the adult and forms the stage between egg and pupa

Life cycle The series of changes in the life of an organism, including reproduction

Metamorphosis In insects or amphibians, the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages

Myriapod An arthropod group with elongated bodies and numerous leg-bearing body segments. Includes centipedes, millipedes, and related animals

Nectar A sugary fluid secreted within flowers to encourage pollination by insects and other animals

Poison A substance that is capable of causing illness or death of a living organism when ingested or absorbed

Proboscis An elongated, sucking mouthpart that is typically tubular and flexible

Pupa An insect in its inactive immature form, between larva and adult

Rainforest A dense forest rich in biodiversity, found typically in tropical areas with consistently heavy rainfall, usually along the equatorial belt

Venom A substance that is capable of causing illness or death of a living organism when introduced into the bloodstream

Vertebrate Animals that have a brain enclosed in a skull, and a segmented spinal column (backbone)

Warning colours

Conspicuous colouring that warns a predator that an animal is unpalatable or poisonous

Animal list: - Lemur - Tree-nymph caterpillar - Tree-nymph chrysalis - Tree-nymph butterfly

- Iguana - Malayan flying fox (bat) - Great eggfly chrysalis - Mousedeer - Saki monkey

- Eclectus parrot - Crowned pigeon - Jungle nymph - Hissing cockroach - Scorpion

Printable package consists of (arranged in this order): - Question cards (page 14 - 20) – print double-sided to save paper - Explanation cards (page 21 - end) – printed double-sided to have the explanation behind the

correct photo

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